Friday, November 9, 2007

Sharing the Vision...

Last week we entertained a group of principals from Texas for the day. Today we enjoyed the fellowship of teachers from model schools in New York and Florida. We toured classrooms. What did I learn? I learned that all of our kindergarten teachers display an ABC Word Wall that this time of year contains the students’ names and a few sight words, but they also have word walls of Science words and Math words. We also saw word walls of word families. Our vocabulary study was front and center as most classrooms featured a vocabulary wall with picture cards. The best news was that kinder teachers had word walls for a specific purpose and that we have moved from compliance to doing things because we understand their purpose. Good news indeed!

So why do we spend our time talking with educators from across the country? Because we want to continue learning – to continue looking at new and better ways to improve the academic achievement of our students. And because every time we give a tour we learn something about them and about our own building and teachers! It’s as simple as that!

I had the priviledge of being a visitor at Chets Creek to tour classrooms and learn from their very professional staff. Everytime I visit, I learn so much. On Friday, Nov 9, I learned about blogging as a support for professional learning, I saw classrooms implementing varied sophisticated methods of instruction and I, most importantly, saw and talked with students who were involved in authentic, rigorous and exciting learning experiences. Every student product and performance I observed demonstrated deep learning. Thank you!

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About Me

I am a lifelong teacher who is dually certified in both Elementary Education and Special Education. I was Nationally Board Certified in 2002. My friends have affectionately referred to me as the "Queen" since I served my state as the "2004 Florida Teacher of the Year." My number one mission has always been simply "to make a difference."